Automobile amusement device



Oct. 20, 1959 F. H. HUMPHREY AUTOMOBILE AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed Jan. 22, 1958 FREDERIC K HARO HUMPHREY |N%R PATENT AGENT United States Patent AUTOMOBILE AMUSEMENT DEVICE Frederick Harold Humphrey, Markham, Ontario, Canada Application January 22, 1958, Serial No. 710,492

4 Claims. (Cl. 46-55) This invention relates to toys and more particularly to self powered mechanically actuable toys adapted for mounting on and operation within, an automobile.

Although many families spend considerable time in travelling in automobiles, the problem of amusing and/ or distracting smaller children on prolonged or frequent trips has not heretofore been easily dealt with.

The confines of an automobile and the relative unevenness of the ride preclude the use of most of the conventional toys with which a child is familiar in the home. It has thus been recognized that there is a definite need for a toy especially adapted for use in automobiles and designed strictly for the purpose of amusing small children on automobile trips.

It will. also be recognized that a moving toy is necessarily. more attractive to a child than a stationary toy and for this reason it is the principal object of this invention to provide a, self. actuating mechanical toy or amusement device adapted to be mounted upon an automobile.

It is another important object of this invention to provide such a toy or amusement device as will permit of many variations in'the form of the actual toy employed.

These and other advantageous objects will become ap parent through a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the attached drawing which illustrates in perspective View and partly in section a toy embodying features of this invention as attached to a window glass of an automobile.

My invention consists broadly in the provision of a propeller so mounted on the upper portion of the glass of a side window of an automobile that the propeller is suspended outwardly of the vehicle and is placed in operative position in the slip stream of the automobile, together with means for translating the rotative motion of the propeller caused by the slip stream into a corre sponding rotation of a pulley mounted interiorly of the vehicle, and a plurality of mechanically actuable toys, which toys are afiixed to the interior of the automobile window by means of suction cups and are connected to the pulley so that upon rotation of the pulley the toys are caused to actuate.

In greater detail now and referring to the drawings, 4 indicates generally the glass of a side window of an automobile, the upper edge of which is indicated at 5. It will be assumed that this side window is vertically actuable. The propeller mounting means which is indicated generally as at 1 comprises a yoke having two downwardly depending arms 2 and 3 which are adapted to straddle the upper edge 5 of the glass 4 preferably in close frictional engagement therewith. The mount is formed with an upward projection 6 of a reduced cross sectional area; this projection 6 being of substantially the same thickness as the glass 4 for reasons which will become apparent hereafter. The mount 1 also includes two substantially horizontally projecting shoulders 7 and 8 as may be seen by reference to the drawings. A propeller 9 is connected to the mount 1 as by means of the connection 10 so as to project outside the automobile in propeller is afiixed is provided with a worm gear 18 2,908,996 Patented Oct, 20, 1959 nector 10 extends substantially at right angles. from the.

glass 4 and the propeller 9 is mounted at substantially right angles to the connector 10, the propeller being di: rected in the same direction of travel as the automobile. The connector 10 is preferably'although not necessarily formed in the outline of an air foil as shown in the drawings. The connector v10 extends interiorly of the vehicle on the opposite side of the mount 1 as at 10Av and a pulley 11 is mounted on the inside end thereof, this pulley preferably having a V groove 12 or other means by which a pulley or other simple connecting means such as an elastic or string 13 may operate.

Means is provided to translate the rotationof the propeller 9 into a corresponding rotation of pulley 11. inside the vehicle. In the embodiment shown, the propeller is mounted upon a housing indicated generally as at 14 which comprises a body portion 15 preferably formedv The propeller is in the outline of an engine nacelle. mounted in the nacelle so as to be freely rotatable with respect thereto and the propeller shaft 17 to which the interiorly of the nacelle 14. This worm gear 18 meshes with a pinion 19 which is enclosed within the body portion 15 of the nacelle 14. This pinion is integrally-connected to a shaft 20 which extends Within the air foil mounting 10, 10A through the mount 1 and is-integrally connected at its interior end to the shaft 11.

a corresponding. rotation of the. shaft 20 and thus of the pulley .11.

Since it is important that the propeller extend. no further outside the automobile than is necessary, the propeller may, as distinguished from that shown in the drawingS, be of the multi-blade type, and for safety reasons, the tips of the blades could be joined so as to form a continuous circular guard; This would prevent the blades; The use of a multi-bladed striking against any object. propeller will permit a reduced diameter of blade with consequent reduction in the degree of projection from the automobile.

According to the manner of this invention a plurality of mechanically actuable toys, one specific form of which is indicated as at 21 are affixed to the interior of the glass 4 by means of suction cups 22. It will be appreciated that there are many variations in the form of toys which could be provided, the only limiting factor being that they be afiixed to the interior of the glass by suction cups and that they be a form which can be actuable by the rotative motion of the pulley 11 as transmitted to it by means of belts such as 13. There are many forms of toys which can be so actuable from the pulley- 11. Simple windmills in which the windmill shaft is connected by means of the belt to pulley could be used. Alternatively the pulley 11 could be connected by the belt 13 to a large gear again afilxed to the glass by means of suction cups and this gear can be so formed as to mesh with other gears and pinions which, through variations in the size and position thereof, can be caused to rotate in difierent directions and at different speeds.

Other toys such as the one specifically shown in the drawings as Zll may be used. In the specific embodiment shown the toy is cut out roughly in the figure of a man having articulate joints at the hip and shoulder. If this figure is aflixed to the glass by means of a suction cup 22 located in the position shown, the use of a crank 23 which is mounted on a mount 24 afiixed to the glass by means of suction cup 25 the crank being actuated through a pulley 26 which in turn is connected to the pulley 11 and the connection of the outermost portion of the arm Thus it. will be seen that rotation of the propeller actuates the worm gear 18 and causes rotation of the pinion 19 and.

of the figure 21 to the crank will cause the figure to move in a manner simulating rowing. Many other forms of toys will be readily apparent which could be actuated either directly from the shaft 11 in the case of rotating toys such as the windmill and gears already described orthrough the interpolation of a 'cranl; such as that already described.

.As an alternative to the interpolation of a separate crank driven by the pulley as already described, an off centre pin could be placed on the inner face of the pulley 11 which would thus itself act as a pulley. In view or this variant which 'would obviate the necessity of a belt drive for the pulley, it is to be understood that when in the claims I use the term pulley it is to be construed as including a crank either with or without belt drive to further toys or mechanisms.

The operation of the invention is extremely simple. The window 4 is first moved vertically downward and the mount 1 placed in position with the arms 2 and 3 straddling the upper edge 5 of the glass 4. Holding the mount in this position the glass 4 is moved vertically upwards so that the projection 6 enters the upper jamb of the window where, since the projection 6 is of substantially the same thickness as the glass 4 it will enter the jarnb and the shoulders 7 and 8 will abut against the jamb thus retaining the mount securely in position between the jamb and the glass.

The rotation of the propeller 9 in the slip stream of the automobile caused by the forward motion of the automobile which, it should be noted, is a source of amusement and interest to children in itself, will thereupon cause a rotation of the pulley 11 in the manner already described in detail and effect actuation of the various toys affixed to the interior of the glass by means of suction cups.

It will be appreciated that while the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiment and precise constructional details, the invention is not to be construed as limited to such precise embodiments and construction details. Such embodiments of the invention as come within the scope and purview of the appended claims are to be considered as part of this invention.

. connected to said mounting means, said pulley being mounted within the automobile, means connecting said propeller and said pulley whereby rotation of said propeller causes a corresponding rotation of said pulley, at least one mechanically actuable toy mounted on the inside of said vehicle and attached to the interior of said window by means of at least one suction cup, and means for connecting said mechanically actuable toy to said pulley to cause actuation of said toy upon rotation of the pulley.

2. An amusement device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mounting means comprises a yoke having two downwardly depending arms adapted to engage the upper edges of the glass snugly therebetween and an upward projection of substantially the thickness of the window glass adapted to enter the upper horizontal jamb of the window.

3. An amusement device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said means connecting said propeller and said pulley comprises a worm gear connected to the propeller and adapted to rotate therewith, a pinion gear adapted to mesh with the worm and a shaft connecting said pinion and the pulley.

4. An amusement device as claimed in claim 1 wherein that portion of the mounting means extending exteriorly of the automobile is shaped in the outline of an air foil, and the portion thereof in which said propeller is mounted is formed in the outline of an engine nacelle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 695,689 Leyson Mar. 18, 1902 1,461,179 CrenshaW et al. July 10, 1923 1,645,702 Ischinger Oct. 18, 1927 2,227,918 Trombla Jan. 7, 1941 

